Smidt to resuscitate UNM dermatology
Dr. Aimee Smidt will head the University of New Mexico department of dermatology and lead efforts to build staff and regain accreditation, which the department lost early last year, the UNM School of Medicine announced Wednesday.
Smidt, a board-certified pediatric dermatologist, was named interim chairwoman in early 2016 after the department lost three key staff members, including the former chairman and the director of residency, leaving Smidt as the department’s only full-time faculty member.
The staffing shortage led to difficulties supervising residents and the withdrawal of accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. UNM closed its dermatology residency program in June when the last residents graduated.
“The first priority is to rebuild faculty and bring in the right team members” with the goal of regaining accreditation, Smidt said in an interview.
New Mexico has a “tremendous shortage” of dermatologists, and UNM was the state’s only dermatology training program, Smidt said. The state has only about 50 dermatologists, most located in Albuquerque, she estimated.
Her priority in the coming year will be to hire additional physicians, including a director of residency, and begin the yearlong process of applying for reaccreditation.
Students must graduate from an accredited program to have a shot at becoming a boardcertified dermatologist.
Smidt’s target is to enlarge the staff to four or five faculty members within a year. The department remains about two years from regaining accreditation, she estimated.
“I’m as anxious as anyone to have that program reinstated,” she said. “I’m also trying to be realistic about getting fully staffed to have an appropriate application.”
A part-time faculty member, Dr. Therese Holguin, will join the full-time faculty in April. The department also hired two physician assistants late last year, she said.
“We would have to be fully staffed in order to apply for accreditation,” she said. “Then it would take a year before we could have residents join us.”